Charging asylum application fees is the latest way the US could make immigrants pay for its red tape

Author

Lecturer and Clinical Instructor of Law; Associate Director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic, Boston University

Disclosure statement

Sarah R. Sherman-Stokes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

But making immigrants escaping harm and persecution shoulder the cost of processing their paperwork is in line with other trends in U.S. immigration law over the last several decades. Fees for everything from green cards to naturalization are not only common, but increasingly costly and mandatory.

In short, the nation has legal obligations to allow non-citizens to seek asylum, and to vet and process those cases in accordance with domestic and international laws.

The asylum rules and regulations on the books originated in 1974 and were refined in 1980. Asylum law has evolved since then, explicitly without fees – even as fees became routine for other immigration applications.

Unable to find asylum elsewhere, dozens of Jewish refugees spent months trying to disembark at a Latin American port until the Dutch government let them land on Curacao in the Caribbean in 1942.AP Photo

Immigration tolls

Meanwhile, fees for other kinds of immigration applications have been rising for years, becoming increasingly onerous.

Applying for naturalization, the process by which immigrants with legal status become citizens, cost US$35 in 1985 – the equivalent of $83 today after accounting for inflation. But the price tag for that same application is now $640 – eight times more. And that doesn’t include the mandatory $85 fingerprinting fee.

Waivers are available in some cases. But as a result of this sticker shock, many longtime lawful permanent residents, such as immigrants with green cards, can’t afford to become citizens despite their eligibility, interest and strong ties to this country through their families, businesses, religious engagement and community involvement.

While some immigration lawyers represent clients pro bono, meaning for free, such services are scarce. Lawyers’ fees, therefore, can add to the burden as well.

What happens next

Are asylum fees inevitable? Not necessarily.

Trump has asked the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to establish asylum fees and make work authorization harder to obtain than it already is for asylum-seekers by the end of July.

Yet the time frame is unclear. These changes are subject to official rule-making procedures – and very likely lawsuits – all of which will delay the policy’s implementation beyond the requisite 90 days, or even halt it. Likewise, many of the other obstacles the Trump administration has placed in the path of asylum-seekers, such as forcing them to wait in Mexico for their hearings and instructing authorities responsible for screening applicants to become more confrontational during preliminary interviews, might not withstand court challenges.

Through it all, one thing is clear. Most asylum-seekers come with nothing. What little savings they have are often used to pay for their journey to the United States, as well as their basic needs upon arrival.

If they are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and fortunate enough to have the opportunity and ability to get out on bail, any of their remaining funds are quickly depleted.

Making it harder for asylum-seekers to access protection is sure to leave many in dire straits.